Soul Reaper
by Cheile
Summary: The crew rescues a stranger in trouble, but something sinister is afoot. Inspired by a Babylon 5 episode. Takes place a year or so after the finale. [set aside for now!]
1. Rescue

Author's note: The blame for this story lies entirely at my best friend Briahlen's feet. She made me watch Babylon 5! (long story). So B5ers will recognize the basis of this plot from the first season episode "Soul Hunter".

This takes place a year or so after season five. I don't care how Engels ends Andromeda--this is MY version.

Thanks: to the Andromeda cast and crew for inspiring me, and the friends who encourages me.

Dedication: This story is dedicated to the memory of the Grande Dame of Science Fiction herself--Andre Norton, who passed away on St. Patrick's Day. Without the influence of her books, I know without a doubt that I would not be in this place at this time, an avid science fiction/fantasy fan. Without her, I would not have been inspired to become a writer, even though I currently have only completed fanfiction. Farewell, Andre...you are and will be very missed by me.

Soul Reaper  
by Cheile

Prologue 

He watched the balls of light dance in their enclosure. There were far more than he could count, but the more there were, the more beautiful it seemed.

His mission was not something many beings would want to ever consider doing for a day, let alone a lifetime. It was a lonely career. Yet he reveled in it. Only those like him had the unique talent required for it--to take care of the suffering and watch over what otherwise could be lost to the vast reaches of the universe.

"Yes, my children," he said as several of the little globes clustered near the point of the barrier where he stood. "You will have new brothers and sisters very soon..."

* * *

Chapter 1  
Rescue

_"Trust is for the foolish."  
__-- Marc Alexander Lafayette, CY 9981_

It was situation normal aboard the Andromeda Ascendant.

For Seamus Harper, that meant being buried up to the tips of his spiky blond hair in repairs and other work. Currently he was about ten feet inside the main conduit on command deck, busily tweaking the long-range sensors, whose readings had been off for three days. They weren't off by much anymore--that issue had been fixed within the first ten hours--but he wanted them exact.

"Harper, are you ever coming out of there?"

"Not until I fix this..."

"You did fix it...a variance of .007 isn't that big of a deal." The voice belonged to Beka Valentine, resident pilot and first officer. She had moved from the pilot's chair to the entranceway of the conduit in order not to shout across the command deck. Shouting was better reserved for when the unruly engineer got out of line.

"Hello--genius at work here? Let me decide that, Boss."

"A little help here, anyone?"

"Don't look at me." Telemachus Rhade smirked when Beka rolled her eyes at him.

"Beka, you know better than anyone that he won't stop until he's satisfied that my sensors are the way they should be." This input came from a hologram of Andromeda that flickered into existence nearby.

"Besides, his dedication is admirable," added the ship's AI.

"I doubt even you care about a .007 variance, Rommie."

Both shrugged in answer.

"By now, I think it's safe to say she trusts Harper's judgment, Beka." Dylan Hunt, the Andromeda's captain, returned a faint smile to Beka's look of exasperation.

Beka's chance to continue the debate was lost when Rommie spoke up. "Dylan, a small ship has just come within my sensor range. It appears to be drifting."

"Great--just what we need: trouble in disguise." Harper's voice floated out from the conduit.

"Armed?" Dylan asked.

"Yes, but nothing sophisticated; merely enough to defend itself--if it were operational."

"Life signs?"

"One normal life sign, uninjured and who seems to have just activated a distress signal." Without being asked, Rommie opened the frequency, allowing all on command deck to hear it.

The voice was low, but with a troubled note to it. "This is Tarnescu Siri. My ship is damaged and I require assis--" A faint static-like sound was heard and then nothing.

"Rommie?"

"It appears I was incorrect in assuming he was uninjured..." The AI looked rather annoyed with herself at the error. "Grapplers ready to initiate."

As the rest of the crew got to the business of rescue, Harper resumed his own work. There was the possibility of some troublemaker showing up; therefore his lovely warship needed her every sensor exact. No .007 variances allowed. Period. End of subject.

"Harper!"

The bark was so sudden that Harper jerked upwards, banging his nose into the nanowelder in his hand. "Ow! What!" When his vision cleared, he could see Dylan glaring in at him. It was one of those High-Guard-thou-shalt-obey looks--the one that always meant he was busted.

"I expect you out here with everyone else?" Dylan's tone made it clear that refusing wasn't an option.

"I have work to finish in here...you guys don't need my help."

"Mr. Harper..."

"Okay, okay." Harper grumbled all the way out of the conduit. "But don't say I'm not dedicated to my work then."

"Never crossed my mind," Dylan promised. "Besides--" And here the captain pointed towards the view screen, where the Andromeda's bucking cables were towing the small cruiser towards one of her hangars. "That ship will need repairs while Trance is taking care of her pilot..." He left the temptation dangling.

Harper cast a glance over his shoulder at the conduit he'd left behind and then at the viewscreen as the smaller ship vanished from their view. His paranoid gut was swearing that this was the latest in a long line of trouble that always seemed to follow them like Magog after their next prey, but Dylan's carrot was far too difficult to resist. "Okay. You win, Boss. This time."

Dylan smiled. "Don't say I never let you have any fun."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

Down in med deck a half-hour later, Trance Gemini was puzzling over her patient as she healed his injuries. Most were minor, except for a mystery blow to the head. Luckily there was no fracture of the skull, just some bruising that the nanobots were quickly healing. Her patient had been the sole occupant of his little craft, so no one could have struck him, but something could have fallen upon him. That could be determined once he awoke and could explain what had happened to him. But what puzzled her more than the state of his main injury was that he looked very familiar yetcould not place him. She knew she had not met him, but his species--

Having completed her work, she studied him in hopes of jogging her memory. He was small--perhaps no more than four inches taller than Harper--but heavier in build. His skin tone was much like her own, but darker, as if tanned. Lying down, his head appeared slightly larger than his body, but Trance knew somehow that the difference would not be so noticeable when he was standing up. His head was bald, his face slightly flat, and there was what looked like a small yellow stone in the center of his forehead. She knew what he was...if only she could--

In that instant, her patient opened his eyes--which were a fathomless black--and met her gaze.

"Annaré-Ayane..."

Trance's indrawn breath was audible at the term she'd not heard in a very long time. "Tarnescu..."


	2. Ominous

Chapter 2  
Ominous

_"Always trust your gut."  
__-- ancient Earth saying_

"Trance?" Dylan's voice finally broke the silence on Med Deck. It also snapped both its occupants out of their mutual stare.

Dylan studied the odd look on her face. "You know our visitor?"

"She knows of me, Captain. You are the captain of this vessel, correct?"

"That's right." Dylan schooled his expression to be guarded but not suspicious. "Dylan Hunt."

"I thank you for your timely rescue, Captain Hunt. I am Tarnescu Siri."

Dylan nodded in response to the introduction. "And where do you know Trance from?"

Tarnescu smiled benevolently. "All of my people know of the Annaré-Ayane." At Dylan's puzzled look, he translated. "Sun Guardian."

"Ah." Dylan's gaze shifted to Trance, whose expression was a cross between embarrassed and pleased. "And who are your people?"

"I am a Soul Keeper, Captain Hunt. Perhaps you've heard of us?"

Dylan nodded, his mind going back to scary camping tales as a teenager. He smiled a little ruefully. "Not in a very flattering context for the most part, I'm afraid."

Tarnescu simply shrugged. "I'm aware that many races make mine out to be demons in the dark. It is part of our work and bothers me not in the least." He sighed softly, then attempted a smile. "Dare I ask what condition is my ship in?"

Trance gently but firmly put a restraining hand on Tarnescu's shoulder. "You need to rest. Dylan will find out from Harper how much damage your ship suffered and how long the repairs might take." She turned to give Dylan a gently scolding glance, one that he took as his hint to leave.

"Right...I'll go check with Harper." Dylan nodded again to Tarnescu. "I'll update you as soon as I speak to my engineer."

"Thank you, Captain." Tarnescu gave a slight incline of his head. "Then I will gladly put myself into the Annaré-Ayane's hands and not think about it for the time being."

Dylan chuckled to himself as he left med deck wondering how many more surprising things would happen in his lifetime. A Soul Keeper--what was next? "Harper, what's the condition of our guest's ship?"

"Oh you do NOT want to see this mess, Boss." Harper's voice echoed back through the commlines and Dylan could hear the faint clattering on the other end of what sounded like the young engineer's feet on a catwalk.

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh yeah. Grav sensors were way out of whack--those I already fixed. But the rest may take some time. Five power relays for the GFGs are burned out, and the GFGs themselves are completely fried and need to be rebuilt. And there's no spares in my storage that match. I've never seen anything like these before." There was a hint of awe in Harper's voice--and Dylan could tell that despite the work ahead, he would enjoy the challenge. "So is our 'guest' awake? 'Cause he's gonna have to tell me where to get replacements for these or he's going nowhere fast in this thing."

"You know Trance. You'll have to fix what you can now and ask him in the morning. He took a pretty nasty bump to the head so she's not going to permit any visitors until he's had rest."

"Well I have the relays, so I can do that while I wait. No rest for the weary."

* * *

Dylan's assumption was correct. Despite the long hours of work ahead, Harper was in his element. After the quick fix of the gravity, he explored every available inch of Tarnescu's engine room. Currently, he was stalled with removing the burned out power relays. That was pretty simple, though. A few taps with the nanowelder and they were out. Putting new ones in would be a breeze.

The GFGs, though, would be a different story entirely. After putting in the new relays he'd brought with him and tossing the dead ones into the nearest recycle bin, Harper scooped up his welder and pocketed it.

"Okay, Harper...now to find the way down." He could see the slipstream core a ways below, but needed to find the proper ladder. After a few wrong ways, he located the main ladder and slid effortlessly down about fifteen meters. Then it was down another short ladder into the dormant slipstream core. The panel to access the GFGs was directly across the way about six steps, which meant he had to literally balance on the edge.

_Why the hell didn't I bring safety straps? Oh that's right--because I want whoever this freakin' weirdo is to be GONE asap! I know when I smell trouble--and This. Is. Trouble.!_

Almost as soon as the thought passed, his eyes landed on a set of safety straps already hooked up to the wall. He allowed himself a smile while hooking himself up. This would make it more convenient.

"And the sooner I get you fixed up, the sooner the unwanted guest goes bye-bye!" Now safely strapped in, he let himself swing halfway over the abyss that led straight down into the core and removed the GFG panel, flipping his goggles down with his free hand. "Courtesy of the Harper."

Fifteen minutes later, Harper was in the middle of removing the second of the damaged GFGs when he thought he felt a tugging around his middle. Startled, he glanced down, but the straps were firmly hooked together. Shrugging it off, he went back to work. He felt it again a moment later, but ignored it this time as he tossed the third dead GFG over his shoulder. Now to the last. It was the furthest one over, so just out of reach. He stretched his arm toward it--

and felt a vague floating sensation for an instant, before a very audible _snap! _His mind processed the sound in the same moment that gravity reared its head; hands scrambling for purchase on anything he could reach to keep from plunging to certain death.

The scream of terror he heard in his mind came out as a choked cry. One hand finally caught in the small crevice left by the removed GFGs, the other had a strangle grip on the remainder of the safety straps.

"Oh God oh God..." Harper's faint moan created an eerie echo in the otherwise silent engine room. The hand jammed into the hold he'd found was starting to hurt, but there was no way in hell he was letting go. A small piece of the broken strap fell and he found himself watching it as it disappeared into the core.

Focus...got to focus. Come on, Harper. Feeling his hand slip, it tightened on the strap, but he heard a faint creak and knew what was left would not hold up under his weight forever. The leap to safety was mere inches, but it _felt _a thousand light years away. The sting in his right hand was progressing to minor agony and he knew he had dug his grip in enough to cause bleeding. Another, more ominous-sounding creak came from above, causing him to instinctively scramble to gain a better grip. Without thinking, he tried to use the remaining GFG as extra support. It held--for about a nanosecond. Then it snapped off at the top.

The jolt nearly cost Harper his grip and he did scream this time--a short, desperate one. His welder slipped out of his hand at the same instant that instinct had him lunging for the opposite side. The landing was hard, knocking the breath out of him. For an eternity of minutes, he simply lay there, trying to catch his breath. Then he tried to get up, only to have his body reject any idea of that. Fiery agony bloomed in the shoulder he landed on and spread to his arm. He knew something in the arm was broken, but his shoulder--and what was that pricking pain in his hand? Finally he looked, and realized he was holding the last damaged GFG.

"Well, at least I finished that part of the work..."

* * *

"You really need to learn to be more careful, Harper," Trance scolded gently as she injected the nanobots into the broken arm.

"I was careful! I even used the safety straps this time. But Sleeping Beauty over there--" Harper jerked his good arm in the direction of the only other occupied bed. "--had crummy straps and they broke on me! So this--ow!--was not my fault."

"Harper! Don't speak about Tarnescu that way. I'm sure he didn't mean for the straps to break on you."

"He shoulda checked them..." This comment was a mutter under his breath and he met Trance's lecture-in-a-glance with a scowl firmly in place. He glanced up when the doors opened, admitting Beka.

"I swear, Harper, is it your mission in life to live on med deck? Because you seem to like spending a lot of time here." Beka gave the little engineer a look of mild exasperation.

"Gee, thanks for the love and concern, Boss. I'll remember not to visit you next time you end up here for a long stay."

Beka rolled her eyes. "How much damage did he do to himself, Trance?"

"Dislocated shoulder, broken arm, four deep cuts in his right hand, some moderate bruising on his hip," the golden girl recited. "The nanobots are taking care of the shoulder and arm, the bruising and cuts have been taken care of. A few hours of rest and he'll be back on his feet."

"Good." She turned back to Harper. "And as for you, next time you want to give me a heart attack, warn me in advance, will you?"

"I'll have Rommie make a note," he snapped back. Ordinarily, he would have remembered that Beka's smart remarks were just her way of trying not to show how worried she was. But he was still on edge and so he kept growing annoyed.

"Harper..."

"No, Trance! For once, this wasn't my fault and I don't appreciate being lectured for the fact that other people can't keep their safety equipment up to specs!"

Beka's entire expression seemed to change before she attempted to look uncaring and failed miserably. Silently, she turned and left without another word. Harper watched her go, a little surprised. "Bek--" But the doors closed behind her before he could attempt her name. He whipped around to look at Trance, but she pursed her lips, shook her head slightly in disappointment, and went to check on the alien lying in the other bed.

With a sigh of disgust, he flopped back to lay down. "Just great," he muttered at the ceiling.


	3. Many A Night Musing

Chapter 3 Many a Night Musing

_"They are drawn to death--like insects drawn to the light."_

_-- Vedran text on the Soul Keepers, CY 1979_

It had been twelve hours since Harper's close call. But Trance insisted he stay until morning, with a look that plainly said arguing, whining, flirting and cajoling were not going to change her mind.

So that left one VERY bored Seamus Harper staring at the ceiling of medbay in the middle of Andromeda's night cycle. He sighed for what was probably the nine thousandth time and glared at the sleeping form of Tarnescu Siri. If it weren't for _him_, he could be at least be sleeping in his own bed.

Asleep, he didn't look very threatening. But a closer study was warranted. Not that anyone ever listened to him, but if he saw some obvious sign of danger when this creep was unaware, no one could say that he hadn't warned them.

Ignoring the little twitches of pain in his shoulder, Harper silently slid off the bed and crossed medbay to the alien's side. Once there, he gave Tarnescu the same perusal Trance first did. No hair on his head. Flattened face. What looked like a little rock in his forehead. He leaned in for a closer look at that last one--

--and found himself staring into black pools of nothingness. Letting out a yelping sound, he jumped back, only to have his ankle connect with something that sent him crashing to the floor in an undignified heap--and on his still-healing arm. Blinking through the haze of red fire, he saw that the alien was now sitting up and staring at him with something akin to--concern? He didn't buy it for a moment.

"My apologies--I did not mean to startle you."

Harper said nothing, suspicion edging out the pain he was attempting to mask.

Tarnescu cocked his head just a little. Perhaps this one was a mute, though he doubted it. "You cannot speak?"

"I can talk." Harper slowly pulled himself to his feet, trying not to wince.

"My name is Tarnescu Siri. May I ask yours?"

Blue eyes remained narrowed. "Harper."

Tarnescu nodded. "Well met, Master Harper. And I do apologize again for startling you."

No one had called him 'Master Harper'--except Rev Bem. Hearing this stranger use it both puzzled and unnerved him, though he had no intentions of saying so.

"Did I say something to offend?" Tarnescu asked.

Had any run-ins with a Wayist Magog lately? But instead Harper's response was, "No. Just forget it." He turned to go back to his medbed without further comment.

Tarnescu saw how the young one was favoring one arm over the other and that his walking gait indicated more pain then the little stumble of a few moments ago. "How did you become injured?"

"Just a minor fall," Harper responded aloud. He pushed himself up onto the bed and turned to get settled. "Caused by your crummy safety straps," he added under his breath.

He could feel the stranger's gaze still on him but refused to acknowledge it. Laying down with his back to Tarnescu as much as possible, he kept his wounded arm nestled to his chest and did his best to feign sleep.

/\

With a sigh of exasperation, Dylan rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling for what seemed like the hundredth time. His brain was telling him his body was plenty tired enough for sleep, yet here he was at oh-two hundred hours, wide awake. He rubbed a hand over his face and groaned under his breath.

"Captain? Is something wrong?" Andromeda's quiet voice broke the stillness.

Dylan sighed. "I'm fine, Andromeda. Just can't sleep."

"I take it the presence of our unexpected visitor is what is keeping you up?"

He wanted to deny the fact, but knew she would catch the fib. "Partially," he admitted.

Andromeda's image flickered to life on a nearby screen. "I am curious, Captain--if I may ask?" Without waiting for a response, she continued. "I have searched my database thoroughly for any information on Soul Keepers and what I have found does not answer many questions."

Dylan knew what she meant by saying those words. "Well I'm not sure if I can help you. The stories I know are just that--stories."

"Tell me anyway."

"All right." Dylan put his hands beneath his head. "There's always stories that adults use to scare children into behaving at bedtime. So we were told that if we didn't behave, the Soul Keepers would come while we were sleeping and steal our souls, leaving our empty bodies behind." He chuckled slightly. "Rather ridiculous from an adult point of view, but we bought it as kids."

"Go on."

"As teenagers, my friends and I would tell horror stories involving them at campouts. We'd make up extra details that were totally false, just to make the tale scarier. Draining blood a la vampires, that sort of thing."

Silence echoed for a minute before Andromeda spoke again. "To believe such a thing is real I would normally say would be preposterous..."

"Except for the fact that one supposedly lies sleeping under Trance's care on med deck at this moment," Dylan finished.

"Precisely. Which then begs the question: is he really what he says?"

"I suppose we'll find out."


End file.
